-͟͟͞☆ Chapter 2
𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"The Library"
01:02 ━━━━●───── 02:50

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🛸✮☄

“If you let lesser people determine your self-worth, you'll never reach higher than their limited imagination.”
- Twisted Love

THIRD PERSON POV

The summers for Harry was anything but chaotic or exciting, rather he had to spend his time hiding from the family he's living with. Silent, exhausting, anxious and clueless. These fours words are enough to describe his life for the past four weeks.

Harry, leaving his house for a walk, walked on, hardly aware of the route he was taking, for he had pounded these streets so often lately that his feet carried him to his favorite haunts automatically.

Harry felt a dull, sinking sensation in his stomach and, before he knew it, the feeling of hopelessness that had plagued him all summer rolled over him once again. . . .

Tomorrow morning he would be awoken by the alarm at five so that he could pay the owl that delivered the Daily Prophet — but was there any point in continuing to take it? Harry merely glanced at the front page before throwing it aside these days;when the idiots who ran the paper finally realized that Voldemort was back it would be headline news, and that was the only kind Harry cared about.

If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends, though any expectation he had had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed.

"We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously"
"We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray"
"We're quite busy but I can't give you details here"
"There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you"

But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed too bothered with a precise date. Hermione had scribbled, "I expect we'll be seeing you quite soon" inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon?

As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house.

The most he got to know was from Adalyn, who wrote him a long letter of almost six pages on his birthday and sneaked in some information in between lines. That was a clever way to do so, but he guessed the rest of them didn't have time to think about him anymore.

"Aww well that's cute, she wrote his six pages" Alice said, holding Franks hand who looked at her with his eyes narrowed, "I can write your sixty pages"

He could hardly bear to think of them having fun at the Burrow when he was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he was so angry at them that he had thrown both their birthday presents of Honeydukes chocolates away unopened, though he had regretted this after eating the wilting salad Aunt Petunia had provided for dinner that night.

Arilene had sent him a cake, which presumably Regan and her had baked together, with a short birthday card. He was so hungry that he didn't had the heart to throw that delicious smelling cake. And oh, he couldn't even gift his sister anything, Bloody brilliant.

"Poor boy, why are they keeping him separate tho? He lives more than half of the summer with those douche bag and then for a short time goes to grimmauld place or the burrow" Briony said to which Lily shrugged, "Maybe we'll get to know later"

And what were they all even busy with? Why wasn't he,Harry, busy? Hadn't he proved himself capable of handling much more than they? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed . . . ?

Don't think about that, Harry told himself sternly for the hundred'th time that summer. It was bad enough that he kept revisiting the graveyard in his nightmares, without dwelling on it in his waking moments too.

The second thought that clouded Harry's brain after cedric's death was the moment on the train with Adalyn. Why did he behaved like that? He tried consoling himself that the stress was taking a toll on him, but it didn't happen again after it. Sometimes he used to stare at his aunt and uncle to see if something like that would happen again, but he could still hear their screeching voice and his mind was still filled up with those horrid images.

"Aunt and uncle, oh merlin" Rabastan wheezed slapping Regulus' thighs, amused at the boy's thoughts. "I can't even imagine him looking at his aunt and uncle with a loving gaze and trying to forget about the world" He snorted as Regulus rolled his eyes.

What did even happen on the train? Why did Adalyn's eyes distracted him so much? He was used to seeing her everyday for almost four years, but this happened for the first time. Did she used a spell on him? Of course not, why would she do that. Then suddenly, out of the blue, he starts hallucinating in front of her, what must she be thinking of him?

"You just did what she's been doing for two years now, but you've been a big of an idiot to fight her and not notice it" Marlene said crossing her arms over her chest with a disappointed shake of her head.

He turned a corner into Magnolia Crescent; halfway along he passed the narrow alleyway down the side of a garage where he had first clapped eyes on his godfather. He could have asked Sirius about this if the girl would have been any other than Adalyn, but no. Maybe The potters have a thing for the Blacks.

Hearing stories from everyone, his father was seen with Sirius all the time. Wonder what his and Adalyn's Moms reaction was to that.

Briony and Lily shared a look and sighed. Oh boy, only if he knew. "Look what kind of thoughts your son is having, tch tch tch" Sirius said shaking his head, as James leaned against his shoulder. "Is anyone of it wrong tho?" He whispered with a teasing smirk as the boy just rolled his eyes.

Well, as he crossed Magnolia Crescent, turned into Magnolia Road, and headed toward the darkening play park, he suddenly remembered about Sirius's letters to him.

"I know this must be frustrating for you" "Keep your nose clean and everything will be okay" "Be careful and don't do anything rash"

He had(by and large) done as Sirius advised; he had at least resisted the temptation to tie his trunk to his broomstick and set off for the Burrow by himself. In fact Harry thought his behavior had been very good considering how frustrated and angry he felt at being stuck in Privet Drive this long, reduced to hiding in flower beds in the hope of hearing something that might point to what Lord Voldemort was doing.

Harry vaulted over the locked park gate and set off across the parched grass. The park was as empty as the surrounding streets.When he reached the swings he sank onto the only one that Dudley and his friends had not yet managed to break, coiled one arm around the chain, and stared moodily at the ground.

In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night,because even when he escaped nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake.

Often the old scar on his forehead prickled uncomfortably. In the past his scar hurting had warned that Voldemort was getting stronger again, but now that Voldemort was back they would probably remind him that its regular irritation was only to be expected. Nothing to worry about . . . old news . . .

The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he wanted to yell with fury. If it hadn't been for him, nobody would even have known Voldemort was back! And his reward was to be stuck in Little Whinging for four solid weeks, completely cut off from the magical world,reduced to squatting among dying begonias so that he could hear about water-skiing budgerigars!

"Poor boy needs therapy" Marlene said as Mary looked at her weirdly, "stop calling him a poor boy marls"

He did not know how long he had sat on the swing before the sound of voices interrupted his musings and he looked up. The streetlamps from the surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong enough to silhouette a group of people making their way across the park.

A soft ticking noise came from several expensive racing bikes that they were wheeling along.Harry knew who those people were. The figure in front was unmistakably his cousin, Dudley Dursley, wending his way home, accompanied by his faithful gang.

If Dudley's friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn't want to lose face in front of the gang, but he'd be terrified of provoking Harry. It would be really fun to watch Dudley's dilemma; to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond. . . and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, Harry was ready — he had his wand, let them try . He'd love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who had once made his life hell —But Seeking a fight was not a smart move, He must not use magic.. He would be risking expulsion again

Harry watched the dark figures crossing the grass and wondered whom they had been beating up tonight. Dudley's gang's voices died; they were out of sight, heading along Magnolia Road.

There you go, Sirius, Harry thought dully. Nothing rash. Kept my nose clean. Exactly the opposite of what you'd have done

"He's not wrong tho" Sirius mumbled with a small shrug.

He got to his feet and stretched. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed to feel that whenever Dudley turned up was the right time to be home, and anytime after that was much too late.

Uncle Vernon had threatened to lock Harry in the shed if he came home after Dudley again, so, stifling a yawn, still scowling, Harry set off toward the parkgate.

He walked quickly, so that halfway along Magnolia Road Dudley's gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited.

"Same time tomorrow?" said Dudley."Round at my place, my parents are out," said Gordon."See you then," said Dudley."Bye Dud!""See ya, Big D!"Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again.

"Hey, Big D!"

Dudley turned."Oh," he grunted. "It's you."

"How long have you been 'Big D' then?" said Harry.

"Shut it," snarled Dudley, turning away again.

"Cool name," said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside his cousin. "But you'll always be Ickle Diddykins to me."

"Well that's a nice way to pent up your frustration I guess, just hope he doesn't punches you" Lily said as James stretched his palms proudly, "then he'll punch him back, he's my son"

"I said, SHUT IT!" said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists.

"Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?"

"Shut your face."

"You don't tell her to shut her face. What about 'popkin' and 'Dinky Diddy dums,' can I use them then?"

Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to be demanding all his self-control."So who've you been beating up tonight?" Harry asked, his grin fading. "Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago —"

"He was asking for it," snarled Dudley.

"Oh yeah?"

"He cheeked me."

"Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? 'Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true . . ."

"I am loving this" Briony said with a cheeky grin on her face. "Same, gives me the satisfaction" Lily replied rolling her eyes.

A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had.

They turned right down the narrow alleyway . It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no streetlamps.

"Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?" Dudley said after a few seconds.

"What thing?"

"That — that thing you're hiding."Harry grinned again.

"Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s'pose if you were,you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time"Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it.

"You're not allowed," Dudley said at once. "I know you're not. You'd get expelled from that freak school you go to."

"How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?"

"They haven't," said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced. Harry laughed softly."You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?" Dudley snarled

"Not this brave at night, are you?" sneered Dudley.

"This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this."

"Why do I find it oddly amusing" Evan whispered to Regulus who shrugged. "Maybe because you have broken humor" he replied which causing Evan to raise his brows, "well not more than your son tho" he replied to which the boy just groaned shaking his head.

"I mean when you're in bed!" Dudley snarled.He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin.From the little he could see of Dudley's large face, he was wearing a strangely triumphant look."What d'you mean, I'm not brave in bed?" said Harry, completely nonplussed.

"Oh my god, this is so wrong" Mary squeaked suddenly thrusting the book in Marlene's hand who snickered at her reaction.

"Well, this is awkward" James muttered as Briony, lily and remus nodded in agreement. "Not for your son, he's so clueless about it" Sirius snorted shaking his head.

"What — am I supposed to be frightened of pillows or something?"

"See" Sirius said looking at James with a 'I-told-you-so' face.

"I heard you last night," said Dudley breathlessly. "Talking in your sleep. Crying"

"What d'you mean?" Harry said again, but there was a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach. He had revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams.Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter then adopted a high-pitched,whimpering voice. "'Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!' Who's Cedric — your boyfriend?"

"I — you're lying —" said Harry automatically. But his mouth had gone dry. He knew Dudley wasn't lying — how else would he know about Cedric?" 'Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo-hoo!' "

"Shut up," said Harry quietly. "Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!"

" 'Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to —' Don't you point that thing at me!"Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart.

"I would have throwed a stone at his head, why take the risk for a pig" Sirius scoffed shaking his head.

Harry could feel fourteen years' hatred of Dudley pounding in his veins — what wouldn't he give to strike now,to jinx Dudley so thoroughly he'd have to crawl home like an insect,struck dumb, sprouting feelers —"Don't ever talk about that again," Harry snarled. "D'you understand me?"

"Point that thing somewhere else!"

"I said, do you understand me?"
"Point it somewhere else!"
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM —"
Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water. Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch-black and lightless — the stars, the moon, themisty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished.

They were surrounded by total,impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them.For a split second Harry thought he had done magic without meaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as he could — then his reason caught up with his senses — he didn't have the power to turn off the stars.

He turned his head this way and that,trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil.Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear."W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!"
"I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I —"
"I said shut up!"

Harry stood stock-still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense that he was shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up his arms, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up — he opened his eyes to their fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing
It was impossible, They couldn't be here, Not in Little Whinging. He strained his ears. He would hear them before he saw them
"I'll t-tell Dad!" Dudley whimpered. "W-where are you? What are you d-do — ?"

"What's happening? Wait... is he there?" Lily gasped, her hands cupping her mouth in shock. "I'm pretty sure it's not him, let's hope it's not him, it's just the second chapter" Briony mumbled her legs bouncing in nervousness.

"Will you shut up?" Harry hissed, "I'm trying to lis —"
But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading.There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths.

"Dementor" Alice breathed loudly, her gaze shaking with anxiousness.

Harry felt a horrible jolt of dread as he stood trembling in the freezing air."C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!"
"Dudley, shut —"WHAM!

A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting Harry off his feet. Next moment he had landed hard on the ground, and his wand had flown out of his hand."You moron, Dudley!" Harry yelled, his eyes watering with pain, as he scrambled to his hands and knees, now feeling around frantically in the blackness.

He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling."DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!"

There was a horrible squealing yell, and Dudley's footsteps stopped. At the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one.

"DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!" Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. "Where's — wand— come on — Lumos!"He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him in his search — and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand — the wand tip had ignited.

Harry snatched it up, scrambled to his feet, and turned around.His stomach turned over.A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly toward him,hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes,sucking on the night as it came.Stumbling backward, Harry raised his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!"A silvery wisp of vapor shot from the tip of the wand and the dementor slowed, but the spell hadn't worked properly;

"Expecto Patronum!"His voice sounded dim and distant. Another wisp of silversmoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the wand — he couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't work the spell —

There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high-pitched laughter. He could smell the dementor's putrid, death-cold breath, filling his own lungs, drowning him — Think

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; its antlers caught the dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backward, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the dementor swooped away, batlike and defeated.

"THIS WAY!" Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft. "DUDLEY?DUDLEY!"

He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled on the ground, his arms clamped over his face; a second dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prizing them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head toward Dudley's face as though about to kiss him. . . .

"I kind of feel bad for him" Mary said as Marlene eyed her and then rolled her eyes, "next thing you'll say is Voldemort is empathetic"

"GET IT!" Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping back past him. The dementor's eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and, like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness.

The stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist.Moon, stars, and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breezeswept the alleyway.

Harry stood quite still, all his senses vibrating, taking in the abrupt return to normality. After a moment he became aware that his T-shirt was sticking to him; he was drenched in sweat.He could not believe what had just happened. Dementors here, in Little Whinging . . .

Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking.Harry bent down to see whether he was in a fit state to stand up, but then heard loud, running footsteps behind him; instinctively raising his wand again, he spun on his heel to face the newcomer.

"What are dementors doing in muggle world? And that too two of them? How's that a coincidence?" Briony said, her brows furrowed in confusion. "They aren't allowed to leave Azkaban cells are they? How come they would have travelled there without an order? Or maybe, Dumbledore said those dementors would join his side... do you think it was him who ordered the dementors to go there?" Lily asked turning to look at Briony who shrugged.

Mrs. Figg, their batty old neighbor, came panting into sight. Her grizzled gray hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking string shopping bag was swinging from her wrist, and her feet were halfway out of her tartan carpet slippers.

Harry made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight, but —"Don't put it away, idiot boy!" she shrieked. "What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!" 

"Who's Mundungus fletcher?" Sirius asked a frown evident on his face.

"Arilene, I am getting bored," Adalyn whined poking her bestfriend's cheeks who was engrossed in reading a book. The streets were empty and silent with no sign of commotion as the sun blazed hot. 

"Well that was a sudden change of Pov" Marlene said tilting the book up in the air.

"Lyn, I'm reading a book," Arilene replied half-mindedly, swatting the girl's hands away. 

The black haired huffed, getting away from her best friend, "Fine, go get absorbed by your book, it's not like you have a best friend who wants to spend time with you." She waited for a few seconds to get any reaction out of the girl, but to her avail, the red-haired haired just kept reading her book without paying her any attention. 

"What a traitor" Adalyn mumbled dragging her feet outside the room and closing the door behind her. She stood outside the room for a few minutes looking here and there, "Who am I suppose to annoy? Regan is sleeping, Dad's at work for god knows what. What the hell am I supposed to do?" She muttered annoyingly moving across the floor. 

"Set up a prank" James grinned as Sirius nodded beside him, "color everyone's hair green, well , except mine"

The corridor was dark, silence pressed in from all sides, thick and unnatural, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath. Every step she took echoed ominously, the sound swallowed up by the emptiness ahead. 

"How big is this house even?" She whispered as the corridor stretched endlessly, a tunnel of darkness swallowing anything that dared to step inside.

Adalyn walked slowly, absorbing each and every smallest detail present there. The doors stood shut, their wooden surfaces scarred and lifeless as if no one went inside them for years. Suddenly something caught her eyes, something that broke the patterns and continuation of the corridor. 

She walked with curiosity igniting inside her. Unlike the rest of the corridor, where silence ruled, a faint hum seemed to vibrate from behind this door, as if someone was calling her. 

She stood in front of a door, but it wasn't like the other doors present, the wood of this door was darker than the rest, almost blackened. The handle was not metal but bone-white, too smooth, too cold- as if it yearned human touch for decades. 

"Oh" Sirius whispered looking at Regulus who was already looking at him.

"It feels like someone is going to open the door and pull me inside any second now" Adalyn whispered observing it. Hesitation gripped the black-haired girl as her fingers hovered over the handle. She remembered what happened last time she tried to open her uncle's room. Thinking about it for a few minutes, she wrapped her fingers around the handle and turned. A heavy click echoed down the corridor, followed by the slow groan of ancient hinges, like a sigh escaping from something long forgotten. The door shuddered as it swung open, revealing the darkness inside. 

"What is it?" James asked looking at Sirius who sighed, "The Library".

Adalyn took a deep breath staring inside and a small smile formed on her face, as the scent of old parchment, ink, and aged wood curled into her lungs. 

The room stretched endlessly, its ceiling disappearing into shadowed heights where chandeliers hung, their wax-dripped arms frozen in time. Shelves loomed around, each one packed tight with books bound in leather, cloth, and gold leaf. Some covers were pristine, while others bore the scars of centuries—frayed edges, torn spines, ink fading into whispers.

There was a small source of light coming from one of the shelfs, it felt as if someone was standing there holding a lantern, forgetting about the whole world and standing there for centuries. But before Adalyn could think about anything her feets carried her inside, And the door, without a touch, closed behind her. 

"That sounds like the start of a horror story" Lily whispered in Briony's ear who nodded frantically, "she should get out of there"

Adalyn went towards the source of light, what was even holding it? The shelves stretched endlessly in every direction, their wooden frames groaning softly, as though shifting under their own weight.

As she turned a corner, the glow became clearer. A small golden light pulsed from a gap between the books. It wasn't a lantern. No one stood there, waiting in the shadows. The light belonged to a book.

"God I was worried for nothing" Adalyn whispered going towards the shelf. Adalyn reached out.

The moment her fingers grazed the spine, the entire library glowed. She gasped quickly retreating her hands, moving away from the book, and staring around. The room which was pitch black, was now lighted up chandeliers that hung high all around. The candles kept around at every small table lit up on their own. 

"Is it normal?" Remus asked turning to look at Sirius who nodded, "Yeah, it happens"

"W-what, what's happening?" Adalyn whispered looking around with wide eyes. Was this kind of some charm or magic? But it seemed more than magic as she heard something.

Adalyn's breath hitched.  She could hear some soft murmuring. Was something there? Or was someone there? Inside the library, rusting off in dust. 

The whispers grew louder as Adalyn's feets moved backwards, away from the shelf. Then she heard, loud and clear-

Her name.

"Edlynne..."

"Ohk this is not normal" Sirius frowned sitting up straight, his palms fisting the cloth of his trousers.

Her heartbeat quickened as she stood frozen on her spot. What was happening? Who was there? How did they know her name? And on top of that her real name? Oh god. 

"Adalyn.." 

Adalyn felt as if she had forgot how to breath. Her name, both of her name. But this time it wasn't a whisper, it was a loud and clear call. Call for her name. Call for her. But, but how? 

"Why is this house filled with, I don't know these abnormal things" Mary said waving her hands.

Suddenly the door behind her opened with a loud snap. 

"Adalyn... I finally found you" 

Adalyn turned around so quickly it felt as if her neck would snap into two. "What are you even doing here? And what is this place even?" Arilene said looking at the girl in confusion. 

"Oh" Sirius whispered, his posture relaxing before he frowned again, Arilene never called the girl by her former name.

The black haired sighed deeply, finally releasing the breath she was holding for so long. Well, how foolish she was. Obviously there wouldn't be any person hiding in the library and calling for her. But why was Arilene calling her by her first name? Well whatever. 

"I was just exploring the house, then I found this" Adalyn said turning around to face the library but a frown etched upon her face. 

Why was the library dark again? Didn't it light up just a minute ago?  How come it-

"Well come on, Regan's waken up and I thought we could cook something together" Arilene said dragging the girl away. 

Had she imagined it?

 As they stepped out, Adalyn cast one last look back at the library.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut on its own.

Adalyn flinched, but Arilene didn't react. As if she hadn't even heard it or maybe ignored it.She couldn't shake the feeling that the library was watching her leave.

Or maybe—waiting for her to return.

"Chapter's over" Marlene said as Briony extended her hand, "I'll read next"

"The last part, I couldn't digest it. Like what?" Lily said her brows frowned in confusion.